Reasons I love you
by momma2fan
Summary: Bella receives Christmas gifts from a mysterious person. Who is it? Will she return his affections?


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. **

**AN: Just a little holiday O/s. Completely un-beta'd. Enjoy.**

Standing on the step stool, Bella placed the ornaments on the tree according to Emily's instructions. She tried not to huff every time she was told to move one to a different place, or that something was crooked. She knew Emily just wanted it to look perfect, but Bella was close to losing her cool.

"Come on, Em! I moved this one three times."

"I know. I'm sorry, Bella." Emily placed her hand on her baby bump and sighed. "I just want it to be perfect."

"Aw, Em." Bella climbed down from the stool. "It will be." She put her arm around her friend and looked around the community center. They had strung lights and wrapped garland around all the wall posts, each complete with a red bow.

"Look at it, Em. I think it's done."

Emily looked around and smiled, "I think you're right. How about you hit the lights and we'll look at the tree just to make sure."

Bella walked to the light switch, turned off the main lights and flipped the switch for the tree and room lights. She walked back over to her friend and smiled. "It's perfect."

Emily smiled and wrapped her arm around Bella's waist. "It really is. Thank you, Bella."

"Anytime."

* * *

"Dad? Sue?" Bella hollered as she walked into the house.

"In the kitchen, Bells."

Walking through the living room, she turned into the kitchen to find the table and countertops covered with freshly baked cookies. "Wow, you've been busy."

"Thanks for coming, sweetie. I would have asked Leah, but she's on patrol and with Emily pregnant I didn't want to bother her."

"It's no problem, Sue. What do you need me to do?" Bella pulled her long brown hair into a messy bun on top of her head and rolled up her sleeves.

"First, there's a package on the chair that was dropped off for you." Sue nodded toward the end of the table.

Bella picked up the package and looked at the wrapping. Dancing penguins on a blue background, complete with a shiny blue bow. The card on the outside read, _Reasons I love you..._"Who's it from?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

Shrugging, Bella tore open the package. Nestled inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was an ornament; a red apron with a whisk, spatula and wooden spoon in the pockets, a blue oven mitt dangling from the side. In the bottom of the box was a note, ..._Because you always make the best treats. _Bella smiled and showed it all to her step-mother.

"That is the sweetest, cutest thing ever."

"I wonder who it's from though."

"Looks like you have a holiday secret admirer, Bella. Now come help me with these cookies."

* * *

"Merry Christmas, everyone. Have a safe holiday break and I'll see you after the new year." Bella let her students out the door. They all rushed out with "Merry Christmas, Miss Swan," tossed over their shoulders. Once they were all gone, she cleaned up her classroom and grabbed her things.

She had enough time to run home and change before she had to be at Sam and Emily's for pack night. Dinner and either games or a movie with the pack and imprints. She may not be anyone's imprint, but they still accepted her as one of them.

After throwing on a blue sweater, her dark skinny jeans and black boots, she grabbed the basket of goodies she'd made and headed out the door. When she climbed into her truck, she saw a wrapped package on the dash. This one was wrapped in shiny red paper, with dancing reindeer and a bright green bow. Placing it in her purse, she turned her truck toward the res.

"Bella!" Quil shouted when she walked in the door. He rushed for her, along with Embry and Jake.

"Hey guys!" She was wrapped in strong, warm arms as she was passed from person to person.

Kim walked out of the kitchen and smiled at her friend. "Hey, girl."

"Kim...please tell me there is an open bottle?"

"Of course, come on."

Bella followed her into the kitchen where Emily was stirring something on the stove. "How are you feeling, Em?"

"I feel great."

Sam walked into the kitchen, followed by Jared and Paul. "Bella, I thought I heard your voice. How are you?" Sam hugged her and then walked to Emily.

"I'm good, Sam. Ready to enjoy my holiday break."

Jared kissed her cheek, "Kids driving you nuts?"

She laughed, "Not too much. They were just hopped full of sugar after today's parties."

Paul stood beside her at the counter and bumped her with his shoulder. "Did you bring us some of those goodies, Swan?"

Reaching up, Bella pinched his cheek. "Yes I did, Lahote. They're right behind you."

Turning, Paul knocked her purse off the counter causing her gift to fall out of it. "Sorry, Swan. Hope it's not breakable."

"I'm not sure, I don't know what it is or who it's from."

Emily and Kim looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" Emily asked.

Bella smiled at her. "Yesterday at Sue's there was a gift waiting for me. It had a beautiful ornament in it. But it was the tag which threw me. It said the same as this one." She showed them the tag which was attached to the bow, _Reasons I love you..._

"Anyway, the note with the ornament said, because you make the best treats. It was really sweet."

Kim clapped excitedly. "Well open this one."

Bella ripped into the paper and nestled inside was another ornament. This one was an oval shaped, clear ornament with an apple etched into it. The apple had a heart cut out in it with the words 'Teachers live forever in the hearts they touch.' Bella had tears well up in her eyes as she read the note at the bottom, _...Not only do you touch the hearts of your students, you've touched mine as well._

"Wow, Bella. You have a secret admirer."

"Yeah," she wiped the tears under her eyes. "Whoever they are, they put a lot of thought into it."

"They really seem to know you too, Bella. I can't wait to find out who it is." Emily sighed and leaned into Sam.

"I can," Bella smiled at the group.

"Why, Bella?" Paul wanted to know. It was his experience women usually wanted immediate answers to mysteries.

"No one has ever done anything like this for me before. It's thoughtful and romantic at the same time. I wanna see how well this person knows me."

* * *

"Do you think it's one of the pack?" Kim asked as she sifted through the clothes rack.

"I don't think so. I mean everyone is imprinted except for Jake, Embry and Paul. The twins are too young and Seth is my brother. Jake knows better, he knows I'll always see him as a brother."

"Okay, that leaves Paul and Embry." Emily commented.

"Please, Em," Leah started. "Lahote is the meanest of us all and still calls her leech-lover, even though they've been gone for almost five years. Embry is seeing someone so it's not him."

Bella looked at her sister and then at her friends. She signaled for Kim and Emily to give her a minute and waited until they walked away.

"How long have you been seeing him, Le?"

"Who?" Leah held up a green dress and then stuck it back on the rack.

"Embry."

Leah spun around and faced her sister. She sighed and lowered her head, "We imprinted on each other. We've been keeping it quiet."

"Leah, that's great. Are you happy?"

Leah smiled, "Oh, Bella. He makes me so happy. I haven't felt like this in a long time."

"You need to tell the pack." Bella pulled out a red dress and held it up to her. Draping it over her arm, "At least tell Sam."

She nodded and the pair of them joined the others. Bella tried on the red dress and knew she'd found her Christmas outfit.

* * *

She was in her kitchen, when someone knocked on her door. "Bella?"

"In the kitchen, Paul."

He walked inside and followed his nose to the smell of pot roast and fresh bread. "You didn't have to do all this."

"Oh, come on. You always tell me you don't want anything special when it's your turn for Bella Watch, but love what I make anyway. Incidentally, why are we still having Bella Watch?"

"Caught a couple fresh trails, one of them around your house." Paul set the bag he brought on the table. "Found this on the front porch."

Bella wiped her hands on a towel and took the package from him. Snowmen danced across the green paper with a bright red bow and the same message as the others. Slipping her finger through the taped flap, she removed the paper and opened up the box. Nestled inside was a gorgeous, glossy ornament with three wolves on a snowy mountain painted on it. Flipping it over, the back of the ornament said 'Wolves are like me, misunderstood, beautiful and wild. Never able to be tamed. The epitome of freedom. All we want is to be accepted and loved for who we are'. In the bottom of the box the note read, _...You've never feared us, always accepting all of us._

"Well, that solves that mystery." She mumbled as she walked into the living room and hung the ornament on the tree with the others.

"What mystery?"

"Whether or not my admirer is a member of the pack."

"How do you know they are?"

Bella showed him the note from the bottom of the box before she placed it on the mantle with the others.

"That could mean anything or anyone."

"Maybe," she commented as she went back to finish up their dinner.

* * *

Bella sat on the beach, wrapped in her coat and hat with a blanket. She stared out into the ocean, watching the waves crash to shore. It had been three years since she lost her mother and step-father and she still missed them everyday.

Charlie found her out there and handed her a cup of hot cocoa. "Thinking about your mom?"

"Yeah," she closed her hands around the warm cup. "I miss her more around the holidays. She was always so excited about Christmas and the New Year. All the parties and presents. She was like a big kid."

"I remember your first Christmas. She wanted everything to be perfect, but you were more interested in the boxes and colored paper than the actual stuff you got."

"Well, seeing as I was barely four months old, I'm not surprised."

"She loved you, Bells. So much."

"I loved her too. She was my best friend." She leaned her head on his shoulder, "Thanks for sitting with me, Dad."

Hours later found Bella working with the res kids at the community center on some Christmas crafts. She wasn't really in the mood to be there, but she had volunteered.

"Bella?"

She turned around and smiled at Sam. "Hey."

"This was left for you."

"Thanks, Sam" Bella took the gift and walked over to sit in a chair. She was unaware she had an audience, as she ripped into the Santa paper. Resting in the box was a glass ornament with what looked like a white feather inside and a dragonfly charm attached to the hook. Inscribed on the ornament were the words 'Whisper I love you to a dragonfly, and it will carry your message to heaven.' Bella gasped a sob and then read the note in the bottom of the box. ..._Because you love with your whole heart._

Emily and Kim wiped their eyes as they watched her clutch the ornament to her chest. Bella's secret admirer seemed to know just what she needed and when she needed it. He seemed to be perfect for her.

* * *

With two days left until Christmas, Bella was with the pack at Sam and Emily's. Leah and Embry had decided to reveal their imprinting and Sam had called a meeting. She had gotten used to attending the meetings even if she wasn't an imprint.

"Okay, okay...shut the fuck up!" Sam bellowed, bringing the meeting to order. "We still haven't figured out the leech scent, so Bella I need you on the res as often as possible. Now, I have an announcement...there as been another imprint. Embry and Leah have imprinted on each other."

Congratulations rang out around the room, just as the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" Emily waddled to the door. Opening the door, she found a wrapped package with Bella's name on it on her porch. "Bella, it's for you."

Bella took the box, wrapped in candy cane paper. Inside was a silver snowman with the words 'Friends are the Family we choose', along with another one. A circle with a picture of herself, Emily, Kim and Leah. It also carried an inscription, 'There's a point in true friendship where friends stop being friends and start being sisters.' The note which accompanied them said _...Because our friends are our family._

As her friends looked on, Bella wiped tears from her cheeks. "You know, whoever this person is, they have touched my heart in a way no one has been able to. Ever." She looked around the room. "I just want you to know, I am grateful for each and every one of you."

* * *

The Christmas Eve party on the res was a huge hit. Gifts had been opened, food consumed and the holiday atmosphere enjoyed. Now, people were on the dance floor, paired up and having a good time.

"Want to dance, Swan?" Paul stood looking down at her.

She giggled, "And step all over your feet? I don't think so."

"Come on, you won't hurt me." He held out his hand to her and waited for her to take it.

Finally, Bella placed her hand in his large, warm one. He lead her out onto the dance floor and held her close as Michael Bublé crooned about a cold December night through the speakers. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat as he rested his cheek against her hair.

Paul thought she was gorgeous in her red dress, with her hair swept back on the sides, and curls cascading like a waterfall down her back. If he wasn't so afraid of hurting her, he may have pursued something, but imprinting put the fear in every one of them.

After the song ended, Bella thanked him for the dance. Just as she was about to leave, Sue called to her.

"This was left under the tree. It has your name on it."

Bella took the box and sat down. Inside the colorful wrapping was a purple bulb with the words 'Before I met you, I never knew what it was like to be able to look at someone and smile for no reason,' painted in white written across it. In the bottom of the box she found the note which said simply _...You make me smile just by being you. Soon. _

She smiled as she placed it back in the box and looked at Sue. "One more day."

* * *

After sleeping in on Christmas morning, she cooked everything she would need to take over to Sam and Emily's. The pack and some of the parents who were in the know would be there. She would also find out who her admirer is. She was excited, yet nervous.

Dressed in jeans and a red sweater, she pulled on her black boots. Grabbing her coat and scarf, she loaded the food into her truck. It was snowing when she pulled up to Emily's, beeping her horn so the pack could help bring in what she'd brought.

"Mm, smell that. What'd you bring, Bells?" Quil wanted to know as he handed Claire over to her.

"Hi, baby girl." Bella bounced the toddler on her side. "The usual, Quil. Try to bring it inside instead of eating it."

"Bewwa," Claire patted her cheek. "Santa came."

Bella turned her attention to the child in her arms. "He did? What did he bring you, Claire-bear?"

As the little girl babbled on and on about what the old man in red brought her, Bella walked into the house. She managed to shrug off her coat without putting her down and then continued on into the living room. She sat down on the couch between Paul and Jared, bringing Claire in front of her, as she continued on with her story.

Bella stroked the little girl's black curls as she smiled at her. "Wow, sounds like you had a good day."

"I did. I hungwy now. Can we eat?"

"Sure, baby. Go find Aunt Emily and see what she has for you."

Jared watched her toddle away. "You're so good with her, Bella. You'll make a great mom someday."

"Sure, sure. Whenever the right guy comes along." She got up and went to see Collin and Brady. "Hey, boys."

Jared and Paul watched the young pups hug her and pull her over to the tree where there were still some presents to be opened. They handed Bella a gift and made her sit down and open it. They didn't get to watch as a whistle came from outside.

Kim, Emily, Sue, Leah, Allison Uley and Janet Cameron sat in their vacated seats and watched Bella open the final gift from her secret admirer.

Once again, the outside packaging was brightly wrapped, this time covered in gingerbread men, with the familiar tag saying _Reasons I love you.._. She ripped it off and pulled open the box. Nestled inside the tissue paper was another ornament, this time with the words, 'True love makes you laugh, kisses your forehead, holds your hand and looks into your eyes every single day.'

"Wow, Bella. This person seems almost too good to be true." Emily smiled.

"What's the note at the bottom say?" Kim questioned.

Peeking inside, Bella saw the note which read, _I want to look into your eyes forever. I want to hold you in my arms for the rest of my life. Please, meet me on the beach. _

"Oh, Bella. Someone has put a lot of thought and emotion into these gifts and notes. What are you going to do?" Sue asked her step-daughter.

"I guess I need to see it through. If I don't I'll always wonder." She stood up and walked to the door, grabbing her coat and scarf.

She stepped out into the cold December night, watching the snowflakes fly. She walked along the path and headed toward the beach and maybe her future. Once she made it there, she saw a path that was lit by hundreds of flickering lanterns. At the end, she could barely make out the form of a man. Judging from his size, she knew it was one of the pack. She knew there was only one left who it could be.

Stepping on the sand, she followed the lights to the man at the end. "Paul?"

He turned around and stared at her. "You figured it out."

"Only just now." She raised her eyes to his. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "I was scared."

"Scared of what? Me?"

"Yes, Bella. You are the only one who has the power to hurt me. If I gave myself over to you, it could destroy me."

Bella shook her head. "How, Paul? You could hurt me worse than I could ever hurt you. What if we start something and you imprint?"

"I did imprint." He took her face in his hands, "I imprinted on you."

"What?"

"That day in the forest, when you slapped me, I imprinted on you."

Bella was stunned. "Paul, that was four years ago! Have you been denying it?"

"No, baby. I accepted it the minute it happened, but I knew I couldn't tie you to me, to the res. You needed to go out, experience life, college, everything you couldn't have done if I had told you. It nearly killed me to let you go, but I did it."

"Oh, Paul." Bella placed her hands on his wrists, his hands still on her face. She looked up into his brown eyes. "You must have lived for the times I would come home for breaks. Is that how you survived?"

"That, plus I would make runs up to Seattle a few times a week and sleep outside your dorm. It helped."

"And you hid it from the pack?"

"Jared and Sam knew. They're the only ones." He chuckled, "They were actually the ones who delivered most of the gifts. They even hid and watched you open them when I wasn't around, just so I could see your reactions." He looked at her pink cheeks. "Are you cold? We can go back."

"No, I'm sure you can keep me warm," she grinned. "Besides, I'm sure you haven't said everything you want to say yet. Am I right?"

He smirked, "Right." He wrapped his arms around her, sharing his warmth. "Bella, I am in love with you. Not because of some wolfy magic, but because of you. The imprint lead me to you, but I fell for you, all on my own. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Lifting her hand to his cheek, "I love you, too, Paul. I have for a long time."

He looked at her, stunned that she felt the same. "You were never gonna tell me were you?"

Bella shook her head and looked down at his chest. "I couldn't. The girls knew, but I made them promise not to tell the guys. I couldn't risk my heart like that again."

Reaching down, he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "You don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm here and I promise to never leave you." Paul moved slowly, giving her time to run if she wanted. He stopped when his lips were a hairsbreadth from hers. "I love you, Bella."

Bella felt his breath wash over her lips and leaned up to press hers to his, feeling a shock run through her at the contact. She felt him kiss first her upper, then her lower lip before his tongue ran along the ridge, begging for entrance. As their kiss deepened, Bella was pulled tighter to Paul's chest, causing her to moan.

Reluctantly, Paul pulled away, knowing the pack was within listening range. Looking into her eyes, he felt like he had finally come home. "I'm assuming this means you accept the imprint."

Laughing, Bella decided to tease him. "Well...I suppose I'll have to call all my other boyfriends..."

A growl erupted from Paul's chest. "Bella..."

"I'm kidding." Placing her hands on his cheeks, "Yes, Paul, I accept the imprint. More importantly, I accept you. I love you, more than you know."

Cheers and applause sounded around them as the pack and imprints came out of their hiding places. Congratulations and well wishes surrounding them.

"Merry Christmas, baby."

Bella grinned, "Merry Christmas."

**AN: Have a happy holiday everyone. **


End file.
